


Damian in Wonderland

by TGIntentX



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics), DCU
Genre: Adventure, Attempt at Humor, Gen, Imagination, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 05:19:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12698166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TGIntentX/pseuds/TGIntentX
Summary: “It's a lot harder to convince people you're sane than convince them you're crazy,”-Former patient of a psych wardA bored Robin is a dangerous thing, letting imagination run wild enough to warp reality. Often strong enough to carry them to another world without leaving the comfort of their home.





	Damian in Wonderland

**Author's Note:**

> It has been a year since I joined AO3 and started to write even though I may have been here longer than that. 
> 
> A year since I decided to follow one of the rules of fanfic; "write the fic you wish to see in the world aka goddammit do I have to do everything myself around here" (taken directly squid's law of fic)
> 
> Marking November as an 1 year anniversary, enjoy my very first one-shot 
> 
> (How I jumped into chaptered fics rather than one-shots when I first started is beyond me...)

Damian threw his book against the wall in frustration and slumped into his arm chair. On his last patrol he disobeyed a direct order that resulted in putting civilian lives in danger. Dick was forced to bench him until further notice. It has been three days and Damian has exhausted all means of entertainment within the manor. He is getting bored and a bored Robin is a dangerous thing.

Alfred stepped into the parlor Damian has been residing, placing a tray of snacks on the table in front of him. “Master Damian, are you throwing a tantrum?”

Damian snarled. “Grayson has no right to bench me! I did what had to be done!”

Alfred picks up the book Damian threw, placing it on the table. “May I suggest that you be careful to not misplace your anger,” he said. “Master Bruce is very fond of this book. His mother used to read it to him before he goes to sleep.”

“Well father isn't here now, isn't he?” Damian grunted, crossing his arms and looks away.

Alfred tried not to frown. “Master Dick said he will return home late so it won't be necessary to wait up for him. He wishes you goodnight and will see you in the morning. Enjoy your snacks, Master Damian.”

He didn't bother to look up until Alfred left the room. Damian was about to take a cookie when something caught his attention.

Alfred has a rabbit's tail.

Damian blinked in surprise and rubs his eye. The tail is still there behind Pennyworth, twitching as if it were alive. He was about to say something but Alfred turned the corner, out of sight. This prompted Damian to get up and follow Alfred, investigating his newly acquired appendage.

He follows Alfred as he was heading to Bruce's study. By the doorway he saw Alfred turning the old clock to reveal the secret entrance to the Batcave. Damian was about to call to him when he saw two large rabbit ears suddenly sprouted on top of his old butler's head. Choking on his spit, Damian missed his opportunity that in a blink of an eye Alfred disappeared into the Batcave elevator with the doors shutting behind him.

Damian quickly enters Bruce's study and presses the button for the elevator. Entering, he takes the time to process what he just saw and came up with two possible explanation. (1) Pennyworth has been exposed to some sort of toxin that causes him to grow animal appendages. (2) Damian himself has been exposed to a hallucinogen that took about three days for it to take any effect on him.

The door to the elevator opens. Instead of the Batcave, there is a forest in its place with trees, giant mushrooms and flowers. Damian blinked. Either Alfred has outdone himself with redecorating or Damian's hallucinogen is more powerful than he thought. Damian walks through the forest, noting the tiger-lilies are taller than him. He could have sworn that some of those flowers has faces on them but none made a move to speak. Poison Ivy would be envious of this lucious botany.

He moves to put his hands in his pockets when he realizes he doesn't have any. His black turtle neck and grey sweatpants have been replaced with a short blue fluffy dress. The dress ended above his knees with a white crisp apron draped over it. To top of the irony, he is wearing long white stockings and black Mary Jane shoes. A blue ribbon tied in a bow is attached to his hair.

He stopped walking immediately and turned his head to where he was walking from finding that the elevator has disappeared.

Damian puts his foot down and crossed his arms. “I have experienced enough hallucinations and dreams to know where this is going,” he yelled to anyone who would hear him. “But I am not taking another step further until you change my clothes!”

In a blink of an eye, his dress has been turned into a pair of blue overalls that ended above his knees with a white t-shirt. His stockings and flats has been replaced with white ankle high socks and blue sneakers. Children's clothes, he bitterly scoffed. It's not what he meant but it's a step up from wearing a dress.

Damian ought to stay put, hoping whoever controls his dream will meet more of his demands. Like returning him home. But the forest started to look more ominous than he realized the longer he stayed put. Mushrooms growing darker and bigger. The flowers glaring at him, their leaves reaching out towards him yet not touching him. It was then that Damian decided it would be best to not provoke the all-knowing entity and resumes stiffly walking out of the forest with a much faster pace.

 

 

When he gets back, he is going to kill Pennyworth for making him go through all this torture and kill Grayson for grounding him in the first place.

As soon as he walks through the front gates of a cottage, Brown all but dragged him into a large arm-chair at one end of a long table. Never mind her long ears slapped him in the face whenever she turns but the variety of tea cups and tea pots spread across the table. Cain has been tolerable so far, yawning here and there with her long tail lazily wagging behind her. All for the duration he tries to keep his face neutral, trying not to gawk. He has faced weirder things in Gotham and this should be no exception.

But Drake.

Drake has been talking his ear off ever since he sat down at the opposite end of the table. He barely pays attention what he was talking about. One minute he was talking about the benefits of coffee vs tea and thirty seconds later he was wondering why a raven is like a writing desk. At some point Drake's top hat had slipped when he was waving his arms around and sipping his drink but never missing a beat he just re-righted his hat and continued talking. Damian has never seen him talk this much or so animatedly that he was almost concerned for the former Robin's health.

Almost.

Getting bored of Drake's chatter, Damian decided to sip his drink that Brown had placed in front of him.

And promptly spits it out.

“Urgh!” Damian makes a face at his cup, the liquid sloshed precariously. “It's so bitter! What did you give me?!”

“It's coffee,” Stephanie stated primly, pours Damian another cup. “Don't worry. There's milk and sugar right in front of you, go get it yourself.”

“Rude,” Cassandra said, tilting her head to Damian. Her round ears twitched before she reaches for the cake in the middle of the table and cuts a slice. She puts it on a small plate and pushes it towards Damian.

Damian cautiously pokes the confectionery with his fork and uses it to cut a small piece. “I thought this is a tea party,” he said, taking a small bite and chews. Hmmm. Coffee cake.

“It is,” Stephanie answered, glancing at Tim at the other end of the table. He doesn't seem to notice that the party has been ignoring him as he continued about the benefits of a looking glass. “But Hatter would rather drink coffee than tea. Be grateful that he didn't serve you Death Wish coffee because it seems like you are asking for one.”

“True,” Cassandra added, taking a sip from her cup and puts her head down on her arm. “Coffee bitter.”

Damian blinked at that tidbit and subtlety moved his cup away, taking another bite of his coffee cake. He crosses his arms over his chest and frowned. “Is something wrong with Drake?”

“Drake?” Stephanie cocked her head. “Who is Drake?”

Damian glares at Stephanie but her expression is genuine as she doesn't know who is he referring to. He reluctantly pointed at Tim sitting across from him.

Stephanie giggled. “That's not Drake, silly,” she shakes her head. “That is Hatter. He is always like this.”

“You should learn not to call someone other than their name,” Tim said, tuning into their conversation. “It's very rude, Alice. I am Hatter. She is the March Hare. Our sleepy friend over there is Dormouse.”

“My name is Damian,” Damian said through his teeth. “It is you lot who has been calling me the wrong name the moment I sat down.”

Stephanie lean her arm out on the table and rests her cheek in her hand. “Tell me Alice who is Damian,” she said, twirling her spoon in her cup. “What belongs to you, but is used by others?”

“Your name,” Cassandra answered sleepily into her arm.

Tim claps his hands. “Precisely,” he said. “You are the name given to you as used by others. Not this “Damian” you insisted. Gosh, it sounds like the name for a devil's child.”

“I don't have time for this!” Damian snapped, slamming his hand on top of the table. “Tell me how to get through this hallucination, Grayson is returning home any minute!”

“If you know Time as well as I do than you shouldn't worry about not having enough of him,” Tim replied, pouring himself another cup. “There was this one time where we were to give a concert to the court and I had to sing 'Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you're at!' You know the song, perhaps?”

“He hardly finished the first verse when the Queen of Hearts bawled 'He's wasting the time! Off with his head!'” Stephanie supplied. “Ever since then Time seems to always run away from him.”

“It's your fault, Hare,” Tim accused, pointing at Stephanie. “Had you didn't miss your cue, we would have all the Time in the world.”

Stephanie scoffed. “Please. We were doomed from the start when we entered the Queen's court. The Dark Knight would have hear us out before he decides to off with our heads. Personally I think he has better taste in music than her.”

“Wait, the Dark Knight?” said Damian, rather alarmed by this name. “The Batman?”

“See this is what I mean,” Tim threw his hands up exasperated. “It is rather rude to refer to someone other than the name that was given to them. Nobody likes it. Would you rather call the March Hare the White Rabbit instead?”

“And I would be rather offended,” Stephanie replied, her nose scrunched and her ears twitched. “I am nothing like that old bunny, think he's better than us with his pocket watch and mittens.”

“You people are mad!” Damian cried, thumping his head against the table in frustration. It's like whatever he said goes in one ear and out the other. Much worse than their normal counterparts. Nevermind criticizing his own name.

“Have I gone mad?” Tim retorted. “You're entirely bonkers.”

Then Tim grinned, lowering his head and makes some hand motion for Damian to pay attention. Damian followed suit, making sure he can hear Tim properly. “But I'll tell you a secret,” he softly said, only for the whole table to hear him. “All the best people are.”

Damian sat up straight and huffed. “I don't remember reading that from the book,” he muttered to himself, glaring at the teenager with the top hat. “Where I come from the mad would be locked away in Arkham Asylum where they belong.”

“Really, now you ask me,” said Stephanie, very much confused. “I don't think –”

“Then you shouldn't talk at all,” said Damian.

That was a rude thing to say as silence permeated throughout the table. Slowly but surely Stephanie's eyes started to water and her lips quivered. Her ears drooped with her feelings being hurt, covering her face and muffling her whimpers.

Tim gets out from his seat to give Stephanie a box of tissues, shooting Damian a glare. “Really now that wasn't necessary. Dormouse, be a dear and fetch the life raft. It'll take awhile for her to calm down.”

Cassandra gets up and was about to move, she paused looking at the table carefully. “Tea time?”

Stephanie's cries turn into full blown sobs. Big fat tears fall from her face slowly creating puddles. Tim does his best to soothe her pain, awkwardly rubbing her arms up and down while avoiding her tears tainting his suit. “Yes it's still tea time,” he said, not looking up. “We will just have to continue this on the raft.”

Cassandra walks to the side, pausing by Damian's side. She narrowed her eyes and gave him a glare, her tail straight with anger. Damian stiffens from her stare. Even a mouse version of Cain is scary.

“Rude Alice,” she said. “Please leave.”

“Gladly,” Damian said as he spun on his heels and left the premises. By the gate he looks back on the trio, neither of them took notice of his departure, though he looked back once or twice, half hoping that they would call after him. The last that he saw them was water level rising within their property but not a drop was spilled out from the fence. A lullaby of 'Twinkle, twinkle, little bat' was the last that he heard from the mad trio.

 

 

Finally away from the mad, Damian took the time to think as he walk down the path. Whatever hallucination controlling his mental state knows how to unhinge him in the slightest of ways. Having exposed to drastic personality change of the bat members caught him off balanced the minute he stepped through the gates. The cause must be the caffeine affecting the party's mental state. Or perhaps Drake is succumbing to mercury poisoning from that top hat of his. He always did say that Drake would be the first to lose his mind and he was right.

Then again he did just saw Pennyworth with big white rabbit ears awhile ago so who is he to judge on what's normal or not in this world.

Walking through the forest he comes across a fork in the road. He could barely see the destination the roads lead to. Right in the middle of the fork road is a giant tree with a number of arrow signs nailed to it's bark. The way the arrow signs are pointing to is ridiculous. Some pointing to the ground or pointing up. Some of the signs said 'This Way' or 'That Way' and even 'Not There'.

“So you are the Alice who calls people other than their names. Very rude of you don't you think?”

Damian was startled to see Jason Todd sitting on a branch of a tree a few yards off. He grin wide showing the great many teeth, his cat ears twitched on the top of his head and his claws tapped on the branch he is sitting on.

“Only because they called me a name that isn't mine,” Damian said. “Care to tell me which way I ought to go from here? The signs are as mad as this world I'm in.”

Jason nodded, his striped tail lazily swings back and forth. “We all are living in a mad world don't you think,” he said. “We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad. To answer your question that depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”

“I don't much care where – ”

“Then it doesn't matter which way you go – ”

“ – so long as I get _somewhere,_ ” Damian glared. “I just needed to know which path I can take to the Red Queen so I can get out of here in time for Grayson to come back home.”

“You know Time? Then you must've heard that – ”

“Not what I meant,” Damian interrupted, putting his hand up to stop him. “I just need to find the Dark Knight, he must be residing where she lives.”

Jason vanished from the branch he was sitting on before reappearing on the ground, leaning his body to the trunk of the large tree. “Then surely you would have known that the Dark Knight is gone.”

Seeing Damian confused, Jason sighs and shakes his head. “Our world doesn't always have a Red Queen, we used to have a White King. The world was so much brighter and nicer than what you noticed when you walked through our dark forest. The Dark Knight is the one who kept the darkness at bay.”

Jason paused to take out a cigarette from his jacket and lights it up with a snap of his fingers. He puffed some smoke before continuing. “Then the Red Queen invaded, causing the darkness to prosper and spread. The White King is dead and the Dark Knight locked away. The reason the Red Queen still kept the Dark Knight alive was because he is our protector and she trying to find a way to use him against us.”

“She has my father,” Damian said, clenching his fist beside him. “I have to go save him!”

“Woah hold on there,” Jason said, placing his hand on Damian's shoulder to steady him. “First of all; you're his son? Eww that's gross. Second of all do you not hear me? The Red Queen has him locked away like some Rapunzel in a tower. It's a wrong literature reference but the point still stands.”

“All the more reason to save him,” Damian said. “He is the key to getting me out of this place.”

“Why would you want to leave?” Jason asked, letting go of his cigarette as it disappears in midair. “Don't you like it here?”

Damian scoffed. “As far as I could see I think I'm better off returning to where I come from,” he said. “It may not be as mad as this world but I have a responsibility to my city. I am needed elsewhere and it is imperative for me to return.”

Jason gives him a considering look and shrugged. He moves his body away from the tree and suddenly the giant tree with signs was split in the middle creating a new road.

“If you only walk long enough you should be able to reach where ever you intend to go,” Jason said, nodding at the new path. “Just follow the yellow brick road to meet the wonderful Queen of Hearts.”

“Wrong reference,” Damian muttered, moving past Jason to go on his way. A couple of steps he stops to look back where he left Jason and doesn't see him.

“A fair warning,” Jason said, suddenly appearing besides Damian. This time laying his body on top of a branch, looking at Damian below him. “Every inch of the castle is surrounded by guards, they don't just let anyone in unless they have an invitation. The Queen of Hearts has a nasty temper. She always tries to chop people's heads off. If this keeps up, we'll all be running around Wonderland like headless chickens.”

Damian frowned. “I'll keep that in mind,” he said as he goes on his way. He paused in midstep, frowning at the ground.

“Cat,” Damian said, not needing to look if Jason is still there or not. “I need to procure some items before I request an audience with the queen...”

 

 

After a quick detour to Duchess Gordon's house for supplies, the infiltration into the castle had gone off without a hitch. He made it as far to the tower Todd had mentioned before he was ambushed by playing cards. He didn't know how many had he cut down, they just kept coming from everywhere. They revealed themselves from the walls and floors, swarming around him until he was immobilized. He felt himself being carried somewhere, falling hard onto a rugged floor.

“So this is the Alice who cuts half my deck.”

The card covering Damian's face was removed and he could finally see. Damian glance around him and found that he was surrounded by a deck of cards with spears pointing at him. He turned to look up at the speaker and felt his jaw dropped.

“Mother...”

Talia sits on the throne with a golden crown resting on top of her head. Her throne room and her dress decorated with the colors of red, black, and white. A scepter rests in one of her hand and the other hand taps on the arm of the throne chair impatiently.

She sneers, looking down at Damian from her perch. It suits her, he thought. Not much difference from the original.

“I should behead you for causing such a mess,” she murmured, looking at her manicured nails as though they were more interesting. “Then again, they were just a pack of cards. No use crying over them.”

“What have you done with the Dark Knight?” Damian demanded. He moves toward her only to be stopped by the bonds holding him. “Where is he?!”

“Rude,” Talia commented, glaring at her nails. “Didn't your mother teach you any manners?”

“She made sure I have an extensive education,” Damian glared. “She taught me politics, strategy, and warfare. Every subject known I have completely mastered as she expected nothing less. Other than that, nothing else.”

“Then she must have been a poor mother to forgo teaching you manners.”

“To one's own opinion. She made sure I have the strength and willpower to do what is necessary. In fact both of you may have a lot in common.”

Talia gave Damian a curious look before turning to a wall at the far side of the room. A card at the far side of the room pressed a button causing the wall behind him to move. The wall moves to the side to reveal a giant golden bird cage hidden behind it. The cards drag the cage until it rests near the feet of the throne. Damian could see a figure lying on the floor of the cage, his black cape in shreds and his suit torned and bloodied.

One of the cards pushes his spear through the bars of the cage to lift the figure's head, revealing his bruise tired face.

“Grayson!”

Dick looks worse for wear. He barely has the energy to lift his head to see Damian worried for him.

“Did you know that the White King was the original Dark Knight?” Talia said as she descended from her throne. “He was ineffective, letting the mad run wild in this world. His successor was no better. Both weak to do what needs to be done.”

She circles toward the birdcage and banged on the bars with her fist. The sound echos and rattles the cage, causing Dick to stir. “That is when I stepped in. He was unappreciative of my efforts that he tried to stop me. But he failed and now I rule in his stead.”

Dick slowly blink awake, turning his body until he's sitting upward. “Ugh,” he clutches his head, rubbing his eyes. “Where am I?”

“Grayson!” Damian yelled, trying to move closer to him but couldn't be freed from the guard's grip. “What was the last thing you remembered?”

“Last thing?” Dick echoed the question, scratches his head. “I was trying to stop Tweedledee and Tweedledum from ruining the annual chess tournament when suddenly a bunch of cards came swooping in like some sort of hurricane.”

“That would be me, my dear knight.”

Dick was startled of Talia suddenly appearing before him that he scurried back as far as he could until his back hits the cage's bar. “You! You murdered our king!”

Talia gave a tight lipped smile and drew herself up rather stiffly. “He wouldn't back down when I gave him the ultimatum so he has to go. But I never said I killed the king. After all, he is my beloved.”

She turns her head toward the top of her throne. Above her throne is the king frozen in white carbonite, his eyes shut looking like he's in deep sleep.

“Your majesty,” Dick weakly said, staring up at the White King's prison. He grips the bars tightly in his hands, knuckles turning white.

“Father...” Damian said to himself. The face looks quite like his father, for it makes sense that he is the White King of this world.

“He makes quite a lovely centerpiece,” Talia smiled. “It brings the whole room together. A trophy and an example for those who would stand against me.”

She returns to her throne, looking down at them. “It was a courtesy that I spared him and his Knight no matter how much trouble they wrought. Still, it would be a shame to lock away such potential and not use it in a way to benefit me. So I had one of my seers to concoct a potion to fix my problem.”

A card had stepped up to the throne and in his hand is a tray with four differently shaped vials and colors standing in line. All of the vials have a 'Drink Me' label and Talia randomly picks one up from the tray.

“Alice..,” Talia began.

“Not my name,” Damian grumbled for the hundredth time.

Talia ignores him, gently shaking the vial. “I decided to be generous and let you choose your fate. And to make this interesting you shall be choosing other people's fate as well.” She puts the vial back onto the tray, signaling for the guard.

Damian was shoved to move closer to the throne. The guards opened the cage and drags Dick by his forearms to the foot of the throne and drops him unceremoniously to the ground. He was too injured to move or escape as he was not bound like Damian. The door to the throne room opens as more people entered. Neither or them were injured or cuffed, walking into the room with arms free until they stand beside Damian.

“Todd? Pennyworth?”

The corner of Jason's mouth quirked a little, glancing at the boy whose hands are still bound. “S'up kiddo. Glad you found this place alright.”

Alfred has his hands clasped behind his back, tilting his head to acknowledge Damian. His long ears stood up straight attentive. “Good to see you well, young Alice.”

Talia descended down the steps with her guards holding the tray of vials until she stands before them. “These vials contain different potions with varying results,” Talia explained, placing the vial back onto the tray. “One holds unlimited power and will grant you a wish. One holds a deadly poison; the instant it touches your tongue your body will be in unimaginable pain. One is filled with wonderment, yearning to fly. And one is just harmless wine. One drop from any that you choose is as potent as when you swallow it whole.”

Damian's eyes narrowed, studying the vials before him. “There is more to this, isn't there?” he said. “There is something you are leaving out, something you are not telling me.”

“I was getting to it,” Talia smirked, gesturing the vials. “The vials are a persona of the four of you yet do not let appearance fool you. Of the four potions, two are specifically created for the chosen two to consume. If someone other than the person drinks it, it will act as a poison and kills them instantly.”

“Wait so you're only letting Alice choose for us?!” Jason spluttered. He growls, claws out. “What if we don't want to play?!”

Instantly the cards drawn their spears, pointing at the four menacingly. They stiffened at the weapons surrounding them, blocking their escape.

“Then you forfeit your lives from where you stand,” Talia sneered, raising her hand slightly for the cards to withdraw their weapons. The four bodily relaxed but wary of the threat still there.

Talia crosses her arms and gave Damian an unkind smile. “Choose wisely, Alice. Not all will survive.” She returns to the seat of her throne and crosses her legs, watching him with anticipation.

Damian walks up to the guard who is holding the tray of vials. He studies each vials carefully, all in different shape and colors, occasionally picks one up and gently swirls it in its bottle and puts it back down. Their shape either tall or short, round or square. Colors of red, blue, white, and green.

“Our lives are hanging at the balance of a kid in play clothes,” Jason muttered, a cigarette magically appears between his fingers and brings it up to his mouth to smoke. “If it wasn't for the heavily warded walls I would have disappeared from this wretched place.”

“Come now, Mr. Cat,” Alfred said, giving Jason and Dick a small reassuring smile. “Have a little faith in our friend.”

Dick frowned. “No child should be put in such position,” he whispered. “He may be young but his eyes spoke maturity and experience that I have never seen before. I hope he has the courage to face the decision he will have to make.”

Damian took a moment to close his eyes and think. The vials are a persona of the consumer supposed to drink it. Two are symbiotic, if the wrong person drinks it they die. Three would die instead of one. The most important clue of all would be even if the vials _look_ to be made for this specific person, it may not be intended for them to drink.

“Have you made your decision, Alice?” Talia impatiently asked.

Damian opened his eyes and glares at Talia. “I have,” he said. “If we were to consume this, will we go free?”

“Of course,” she said. “The outcome is the result of your chosen drink. Depending on your drink you may either leave or stay by my side. If you pick the right one that is...”

Damian slowly breath to gain his courage. “The Cat will have the red vial,” he said. “The Knight, blue. The Rabbit, green. And I will have the white vial.”

The four were pushed forward by the guards to take their assigned vials. Jason puts out his cigarette using the tray and takes his vial, shaking it a little. “What if we don't drink it?” Jason sneered.

“Would you rather be force fed or stabbed in the gut slowly and painfully?” Talia asked, looking bored. “It is no trouble either way.”

Jason looks at the vial nervously in his hand, glancing at the others who had taken their vial. “Well, bottoms up.”

One by one they took the vials and drank it slowly. Jason was the first to finish, grimacing as he slams the vial back on the tray. Damian was the second, drinking it in one go and tosses the vial over his head. Alfred is the third, his face impassive after he finishes the drink and puts the vial back rather carefully than Jason. And finally Dick was the last, who had trouble swallowing the potion and shudders when he's done. For a moment nobody moved. Everyone is filled with tension waiting for the effect to kick in.

Suddenly Damian started choking, clutching his middle tightly as he keels over. His body disoriented, wobbling precariously as he started coughing, foaming from his mouth. He stumbled into the card who was carrying the tray of drinks causing it drop to the floor with a clang. Weak, Damian collapsed to the floor, his shudders died and his body stilled.

“Alice!” Dick yelled, trying to get to him but was held back by the cards.

“A pity,” Talia commented, the card picks up the vial Damian drank and hands it over to the queen. “He wasn't supposed to drink it.”

“He took my vial,” Alfred slowly said, taking out a handkerchief to wipe a tear. “I was supposed to drink the poison...”

Suddenly Jason sucked his breath as he keeled over, body wrecked with shudders. “What's wrong with me?!” he managed to say. “I thought Alice took the poison.” He groaned, falling to the floor clutching his side.

“That was the other vials,” Talia said, impassively watching him being wrecked with pain. Dick and Alfred quickly moves to his side to ease his pain but were helpless to watch. “You are undergoing a transformation to achieve ultimate power and shall serve me to rule these lands.”

“But don't worry, the other will join you right about... now.” Right on cue Dick started coughing, clutching his chest. He falls beside Jason, wrecked with shudders as he curls into a ball.

“Everybody knows that the Boy Wonder always go along with his Dark Knight,” Talia continued. “Extracting their essence and consuming it is very easy when everybody does what I say.”

“Cheshire Cat,” Dick weakly said, clutching Jason's arm tightly. “Please don't give in to this witchcraft or else we would fall under her spell.”

“Don't I know it, Sir Knight?” Jason growled, his body shivered. “But I don't think I can hold out much longer...”

With a yell, puffs of smoke consumed his body and blocked everyone's view. When the smoke dissipated Jason the Cheshire Cat is no longer there but Jason the Dark Knight. He grew taller and bulkier with more body armor covering every inch of his body. His face completely covered with a face mask covering the bottom half of his face. Dark aura swept through the throne room causing everyone to shiver.

“Much more menacing than the original Dark Knight, isn't he beautiful?” Talia said, moving towards newly transformed Jason. “He is fear. He is consequence. Retribution. And all mine.”

Jason stepped towards Dick slowly with his heavy boots clomping until he is finally in front of him. “You don't have to suffer,” Jason said with a heavy mechanized voice. “Fighting against the potion is hurting you. Accept your fate. You were the original. Be my sidekick. Be my Boy Wonder.”

“No!” Dick cried, rolling over to his other side in pain. “You lost it. Don't you see that? All of Wonderland will be lost!”

“Impressive. As I expected of the former Dark Knight to last this long,” Talia commented. “But it's getting boring. Originally I would rather have Alice to be the Boy Wonder to my version of the Dark Knight.”

“It's Damian.”

Everybody turned in surprise as Damian stands before them looking well. He wiped the foam from his mouth, looking determined at the crowd as he does so. “Mother biologically engineered my body to be immune to most poisons to protect me from assassination attempts. Cyanide is included.”

Damian pointed a sword at Talia, from which he stole from a guard. The other guards automatically raised their weapons at the sight of it. “She also taught me how to fight at the age of four,” Damian continued. “She bargained if I could best her in combat I will be able to meet my father. I was age ten when I finally met him.”

“I should rather have words with his mother,” Alfred muttered under his breath.

“A queen never makes bargains!” Talia glared. “Boy, you shall pay for your incompetence!”

“My name is Damian,” he calmly said, slowly raised his head and smirked. “And it means to conquer.”

The hand he held behind his back revealed to be the vial Jason had consumed to become the Dark Knight. There was barely enough left to swallow but a drop is as potent as the rest of drink.

Everything happened in slow motion; Talia ordering her soldiers to stop him, the guards rushing towards him, Jason whipping out his guns, and Dick calling Damian by his name. Hearing Dick calling him by his name, not Alice but Damian, makes him smile and closes his eyes as he drank the remaining potion in one go.

A sound of an explosion deafens the room, blinding the occupants with smoke. Nobody could see or hear what is happening. The guards are too preoccupied that they didn't see a tall dark silhouette creeping up behind each and every one of them and disarming them. Everybody feels anxious as one by one the guards fell followed by their screams.

“I am vengeance.”

“You don't scare me, Alice!” Jason shouted. He fires his guns at a menacing silhouette next to him but the shadow quickly disappeared.

“I am the night.”

“And I am the Queen!” Talia yelled. “Show yourself or face the wrath of my kingdom!”

“I am Batman.”

A tall figure stepped out from the smoke, menacing and imposing. He wears a long grey over coat with black tips on his broad shoulders followed by a yellow utility belt. He slowly removes his cowl to reveal an aged but familiar face.

“Alice?” Alfred hesitantly asked.

“It's Damian,” he answered, scowling. His voice got deeper, no longer the voice of a prepubescent child. He didn't pay any mind to them as he walked calmly to where Dick was laying on the floor. He hasn't moved since the confusion, too pain hazed to lift himself up.

Damian lowered himself on his knees, brushing a strand a hair from Dick's sweaty forehead. “It's okay Grayson,” Damian reassured. “I'm here. I will keep you safe.”

Dick hesitantly looked up and smiled softly, clutching Damian's hand tight. “I trust you,” he weakly said.

Dick lets his body relax, letting the potion takeover him. His body shined, blinding everybody in the room before subsiding revealing a small nimble body in it's place. He wears a red tunic with a small yellow cape. He's also wearing green shorts, boots, and gloves.

A sound of a gun causes Damian to quickly pick up the newly transformed Dick and jump up to the chandelier above them. A close save as a gun was shot at their previous position.

“Give me back my Boy Wonder,” Jason growled, aiming his gun at them.

“Al – Damian?” Dick squeaked, his cheeks blushed at the sound of his high voice.

Damian looks at Dick fondly, messing the top of his hair. “I'll protect you,” he said. “Batman always protect his Robin.”

With that he leapt from the chandelier, throwing batarangs at Jason. Jason managed to deflect them but one of them hits their mark, causing him to drop his gun. Distracted by the batarangs, he didn't notice the Damian's shadow coming down and knocked him off his feet. Without missing a beat Damian pivoted using Jason's body and charged at Talia.

“Do you think I would leave myself defenseless?” Talia asked, mockingly.

She tapped her scepter against the ground causing an echo that reverberated throughout the throne room. Cards came charging into the throne room but they split themselves in the middle for Man-Bats emerged from each one as unison. They circled the throne room, once in a while screeching at Damian.

“I gave you the option to join me,” Talia said, disappointed. “If you will not join me then you must die.”

On cue the Man-Bats swarmed toward Damian to consume him. Damian kept them at bay but there was too many of them. On top of that Jason recovered from that setback and launches himself at Damian. There is just too many of them and it doesn't look like Damian would win.

Suddenly a ringing sound was heard, causing the Man-Bats to stop their attacks on Damian. The sound disoriented them, occasionally crashing into one another.

“Robin isn't my name,” Dick said from his perch on the chandelier. He waves a small device in his hand and smiles. “But I kind of like it. Robin will always have the Batman's back.” He leapt down, kicking away a Man–Bat that was too close to his liking, and landed next to Damian. “What should we do, B-man?”

Damian quickly scanned the area before landing his eyes at the throne. “We need to free the White King. It's the only way to free Wonderland and send me back home.”

“Got it, Batman!”

“Off with his head!” Talia yelled, pointing at the duo coming her way. The Man–Bats managed to shake away their headaches, launching themselves at the dynamic duo. Damian and Dick fought them off, kicking and punching their way through the crowd.

One of the Man-Bats grabbed Dick's yellow cap and flew him away from the fight.

“Let go of him!” Damian bellowed, producing the batarang in hand and throwing it at the offending Man-Bat. But the batarang was shot down by a very pissed off Jason Todd.

“You look ridiculous in that get up,” Jason growled, slamming Damian into the ground. He continued punching Damian, his voice getting louder with anger. “Like a kid out for trick–or–treat. Look at me. Do you see terror? Do you see fear? Or is it just your own reflection?”

Damian tries to get leverage from Jason's assault, rolling with the punches in order to ease the pain. At the corner of his eye he could see Dick dangling from the Man–Bat's grip, kicking his feet to get out of his grip.

“Y-You're right,” Damian managed to say, subtly reaching into the clasp of his utility belt. “I see my reflection in your eyes... and it's me kicking your ass!!”

Damian threw an flash grenade at Jason, causing him to yell in pain and stumble away. Freed, Damian subtly attached rocket propellers onto the bottom of Jason's suit. He activated the propellers at the same time throwing a batarang at the Man-Bat holding Dick. Jason was launched up and away, screaming to free himself. Damian ran toward Dick just in time to catch him.

“Nice save,” Dick complimented as he was set down gently, patting his cape to rid the wrinkles.

“I need you to find the White Rabbit and get out of here,” Damian ordered. “You need to get him to safety.”

“But you need my help,” Dick complained, kicking an incoming Man–Bat away. “The White King needs our help.”

“And the White Rabbit needs your help to get out of here safely,” Damian reasoned, throwing a bolo in the air and trapped two Man–Bats. “The Boy Wonder always follows the Dark Knight's orders so get to it!”

Dick lets out a groaned and does what he's told, moving deftly through the swarm of Man–Bats and evacuated Alfred to safety.

The Man–Bats rose up into the air and came flying down upon Damian. He suffered cuts and scabs from those creatures while occasionally knocking them away. At one point he was knocked clean from his feet from behind, giving them a chance to attack. He fought them off the best as he could but there was just too many of them.

Using what's left in his utility belt, Damian combined his arsenal and threw it in the direction of the throne. It made contact and exploded loudly, taking the throne and the surrounding area. The blast blew the Man–Bats away, almost causing Damian to fly away with them if he didn't stab the floor with the remaining batarang. The room was engulfed in a bright white light, blinding everyone as a figure stepped down from his prison and stands before them regally.

 

 

“Damian? Damian? Wake up...”

Damian groaned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked up to see Dick sitting beside him, smiling down at him.

“You okay, buddy?” Dick asked. “You were moaning and tossing around in your sleep.”

“I was?” Damian sits up straight from the couch he was sleeping on. “That can't be right...”

“Were you waiting up for me?” Dick raises his eyebrow and frowned. “That's so sweet! But you needn't trouble yourself. Lets get you to your room.”

Dick moves to pick up Damian but Damian slaps his hands away for his trouble. “Tt. I'm fine, Grayson. I'm not a little kid anymore.”

Dick sighed. “I know but can't blame me for spoiling you. You look like you were having a nightmare so maybe I should stay with you tonight.”

At that Damian frowned, getting up to his feet so he could look at Dick in the eye from where he was sitting. “I'm not scared of a nightmare or anything. My destiny is to become the knight of darkness. For now I'm still growing but eventually I'll become stronger than my father. When that happens I will make you my Robin.”

As a bid of goodnight Damian smirks and strides out to go to bed. Dick was left alone in the parlor confused, scratching his head of what's going through the little Robin's head. Must be an interesting dream. He turns to where Damian was previously sleeping and picks up a small book under the table.

“Alice in Wonderland?” Dick reads the title out loud, flipping through the pages. One of the pages caught his attention, finding a small blue ribbon tucked between the pages. “ _I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then_..." He smiled. "I should put that on my Instagram...”

Dick closes the book and tucks it back to the bookshelf. He goes to bed thinking what kind of Wonderland would Damian experience in both his dream and reality.

 

**Author's Note:**

> 4 anime versions, 3 Disney movies, 2 school project/paper analysis, and 1 "borrowed" high school library copy of Lewis Carroll 2nd edition from 5 years ago makes me qualified to write an Alice in Wonderland AU.
> 
> There are pop culture references not just from Alice in Wonderland. See if you can spot them all


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